SHEEP DIPPING.

Otago Witness, Volume 11, Issue 2280, 11 November 1897, Page 6

SHEEP DIPPING.

The Gore Farmers' Club at ita last meeting took the discussion on Mr M'Quoen'a paper on sheep dipping. From the Southern Standard we take the following report of the proceedings :— '

The Chairman said that since their last meeting his pape,r on sheep dipping had been published in several of the' papers, bub it had not aroused any correspondence or discussion. It was possible tbab he took too serious a view of the matter, or perhaps the general public did not think the subject of much importance. To hi» mind it was an important; one, and one that affected the farmer a great deal. However, he wtuld like to have an expression of opinion from the club on the matter.

McW. F. Ward laid he thoroughly approved of the paper. He had had considerable experience in the matter of scabby sheep- ia the early dajs. The experience of' his father's family was that £70,000 was lost through the effscfc of the tcib. Notwithstanding that, so stringent were the measures adopted that the whole country was cleared. His opinion was that stringent measures would have to be taken in regard to the .tick and lice pest. He believed districts would have to be formed, and sheep only allowed to pass from one district lo another through the dip that may ba placed on the boundary of the district. If any sbeip were found to have been driven into another district; without p»ssing through the dip, then the driver or owner should be puuiehed. As things were now the dealers were the greatest sinners. They were always passing sheep through the public yard?, and some of these sheep were bidly infected ; and as a result the man wbo bought them simply dirtied his own flock. Even in this part of the country, where tshetp were driven to the fret-zing works^ if one of them fell down and could not be' taken any fuither he w*a pitched over the fence, and the unfortunate farmer who thus received such a questionable gift had his flock dirt'ed again. He believed th» formation oE districts wou'd be the proper thing, and, not to be too harassing, they would require to be larger, than counties, or as large, at any rate. The outlets from one district to another should be through a public dip — one in which the quality of the dip should be sufficient to do the work required, and it should be under inspection. Many of the dips nowadays were useless nostrums. He kueW nothing belter than lime and BulpLur — tbe old sc&b dip. He thoroughly approved of tbe paper, and believed the saving to the colony would be all thatf was stated if they, were clear of the pest. '

Mr Dun txptessed his fear* regarding compubtion to dip in the pubic dips. They had quite enough of compulsory laws. „ Mr M 'Queen said there were two ways o£ looking at it. 'There was one thing *boub a Britisher : he was slow to submit to compulsion ; bub ores he snw.tbafc it was for hii ova good he would submit to it. If they were afraid of compulsion, they would never succeed in many things. In paying their taxation they rt quired compulsion, or it perhaps would never be paid. The scab was cleared from the colony owing to compulsion. They had now to disease the matter, and see if it was of such importance as to justify them in trying to get rid of, it. The method to be adopted is an after affair. Probably they might require public dip?, and that these be conducted under expert management, that proper staff be vied, that sheep be kept long enough in the dip, and so> on. The matter of clean musters came in here. There were now so many small owner* that the difficulty could be overcome. ' Tho question w&g an important one — much more so than many of them appeared to think. Ha moved — " That tbis club is of opinion that, ib would be largely iv the interests of New Zealand if the pest of ticks and lice in sheep were extprminated, and, furthtr, in our opinion steps ought; to ba taken at once by legislative action to have ib done.*'

Mr Ward seconded the motion.

In reply to Mr Dickson, the Chairman said the present act did nob allow the inspectors to iuterfere with the dipping. What they had to do w&s to sea that the sheep were clean. Mr J. S. Miilar thought they were all unanimous on the-point that something required to bo done, and the president's paper on the subjecb met their views so well that they could ouly endorse all he had said. He was afraid the indifference referred to, by Mr M'Qaeen was owing,to the want of education on.tbe subject. „ Tbe people, as a whole, required to be educated; on the importance of the matter. There was no doubt the evil would have to be abated.

Replying to Mr Coults, the Chairmin said that the present act did not give powsr to establifh public dips. The farmer was obliged to dip within certain months of the year, and that was all. There were no instructions at i to what particular dip should be used, or anything, of tbab sort. The farmer may comply with the law as far as dipping was concerned and yet have no effect at nil. A few ticks and lice might be killed, but not atf, »cd a, large number of sheep scarcely dipped afe all. The egg is not touched — the sheep are not kept long enough ia tha dip to destroy the ticks, let alone the egg. They may comply with the law. aud yeb not do a bit of good. Ib had been held that the intects could nob be killed with one dip ; but he had exploded that theory himself. If the »heep were pub in\a thorough mixture and kept there long enough* — the time recommended by the dip manufacturers — they could kill all the insect* and eggs also and hare a thoroughly clean cheep. He had proved that on several occasions.

Mr Fleming said there would be some difS« culty in remedying the evil. He attended most of the tales, and he found the worst sheep to be those passing through the dealers' hands'. He found that just about, the end of April (the end of the- season) people would not dip. if, they were going to sell, and a man very often bought sheep sufficiently dirty to infest the whole of his own flock. He itood afc his own dip, which he allowed some of M« neighbours to use, aud told them how to do it, but tbe sheep would be passed quickly through efce dip, and then they were supposed to bo clean— even when the wool was wet only abouto half the length. They should have legislation

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that -no sheep should be sold in public s*ley&rds without having been properly dipped, and these sheep should be examined before being allowed into the yards. It would also be a good thing 1 if the dips were analysed; but he always had more fault to find with the men who used the dip than with the dip itself. If they followed the priuted instructions, they would Sad that the dip did all it claimed to do, -but in many oases that had not been done.

The motion was then pub and curried, and a further motion was carried — " That copieß be sent to tbe Minister fur Agriculture and to kindred sjcicties."